Last night our president made what is probably going to be one of the most decisive speeches of his political career. Plenty has already been written taking the speech apart piece by piece and either supporting or trashing it. I was just really impressed by two points.
1. Not simply sticking to war rhetoric. Many people have said that the only reason they like Bush is for his response on Iraq and terrorism over Kerry's "plan". I like the fact that the war didn't come up until 2/3 of the way through the speech. He talked about actual issues that we face everyday in America. Whether people actually listened to that part or remember it this morning is a different question, but at least he talked about it.
2. Laying out his "personal issues" - sure he has been attacked for his way of talking, walking, and thinking but he knows his shortcomings and did a masterful job of bringing them right out into the open. He is most definitely not a "bumbling idiot" as some have described him. He knows exactly what he's doing and I think we are going to see some strong directed attacks on the issues from him and attempts to avoid the "personal politics".
There is a reason he is the current president and it is not just because of his Daddy or money - I think he makes a pretty solid cleanup hitter for the Republican Party and brought home the points made during the previous 4 days of the convention.
No matter what - I think the next 60 days are going to one of the more intense campaigns than we have seen in this country in a long time.
Posted by ravomess at September 3, 2004 10:22 AM